On the 12th of March, some 160 female residents congregated at Nee Soon South Community Club for Nee Soon GRC’s annual International Women’s Day dialogue.
They first heard three female health professionals from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital talk about how to prevent heart disease, then had a dialogue with Nee Soon GRC MPs Minister K Shanmugam, Assoc. Prof. Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Er. Dr. Lee Bee Wah and Kwek Hian Chuan Henry.
One of the issues they raised was healthcare costs, including why Medisave cannot be used to pay rider portions on health insurance plans. Minister Shanmugam said he understands the concerns, but as our society ages and healthcare costs rise, people will need more Medisave than ever, so government needs to guard against overuse of it. Assoc. Prof. Faishal added that Medishield Life is now in place to cover large hospitalisation bills for all Singaporeans, so if someone finds that rider portions on private integrated health insurance plans are too expensive, he or she can choose to rely mainly on Medishield Life.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah said: “Women often take care of everyone else, but put themselves last. That’s why we talked about their heart health and policies they’re concerned about. I hope we encouraged them to put themselves first for a while!”
